1 hour 10 minutes total daily walk to school

[Itsneversimpleisit]

Is it a lot?

Twenty minutes there in the morning, twenty minutes home.
Twenty minutes there in the afternoon, twenty minutes walk back

With a 5 year old

Is it a lot or average?

It's fine. Our primary school walk was slightly longer than that. Not convenient, perhaps, if you forget something, but good exercise for everyone and a chance to chat. I miss the school walks.

A child who walks regularly doesn't tend to dawdle. It's transport as well as being healthy. So they learn to just walk.

When DS was in reception we had the same walk each day. I quite enjoyed it, apart from in the rain when we would use the car.

I automatically got over an hour of walking a day which I have really struggled to replace since DS got big enough to walk by himself.

We didn't start it until he was in year 3 though so no advice for a 5 year old.

@LiterallyOnFire Please can you tell my son that! We don't have a car so walk most places and he still dawdles!

That's what I did with my DD at that age. It was at least 8000 steps and so it felt good from that point of view.

I dont think thats too bad. I have a 2 hour school walk, with 3 in tow. Eldest being 6. 30 mins to drop kiddo off, 30 mins home, and vise versa on the school pickup

20 minutes each walk for your child is fine. It's no doubt a good time to spend time with them and chat a bit.

As for your question about whether you'll loose weight, that depends on other factors, but all walking is good for you and adds up.

A bit much for a 5 year old. I'd let them eat lunch at school.

It's fine, mine did that (x4) age 3 every day because they had to tag along for their older sibling.

Then we moved further away and now it's a 35 minute walk. But I don't walk it home now, I get the bus on to work and DH picks up. I wouldn't want to do it X4.

20 minutes is fine tho. It's less than a mile. I'd say anything up to a mile is average, although most people drive if it's over 3 minutes 🙄.

My youngest would have struggled with a twenty plus minute walk home in the first teem of reception. She was tired. But would have managed better with a scooter. Have you got a back up plan for a day she comes out shattered with a massive junk model to carry and its pouring rain etc?

A child who walks regularly doesn't tend to dawdle. It's transport as well as being healthy. So they learn to just walk.

Not always true. We walk loads and spend 90% of it trying to get DD not to dawdle. Shes not unhappy, isn't grumbling about the walk, she just isn't getting there fast...

We do a very similar walk. It’s not always me, it’s a combination of our minder, DH and myself. It’s very doable - my youngest needs a snack at the school gates and everyone will need excellent waterproofs if you don’t have a car option.

Sounds fine in theory. In reality walking for nearly 1 1/2 hours every single day come rain or shine will be tiresome very quickly. And will make working pretty much impossible.

Seems ok my walk is 10 mins there 10 mins back but my kids would be able to do 20 - they use their scooters and makes things way easier and faster

It sounds fine, and good on you. Parents at the two primary schools near me start parking outside up to an hour before school ends, presumably so they can park as close as possible so they, and their children, don't have to walk more than a few steps to the car!

You’ll probably pile on weight if you stop it - over an hour per day walking is a significant calorie burn!

What kind of weather is bad enough to skip school? A tornado??

God, me and DD were walking to our schools in -30 in January, everything froze but I wouldn't let her use that as an excuse to miss school, or myself (I did say if it got to -40 she could stay home, but that was never going to happen)

That’s not too much for an adult. The more you walk the better (unless you have conditions preventing you to)

Sounds pretty normal. 4 x 15 was mine and that was our closest primary.

@Natsku presumably you live in a country which is set up for conditions like that. In the UK we have extreme weather so rarely that most people don't have appropriate clothing, and schools do not have facilities for children to get warm and dry.

There's nothing you can set up for -30 to be fair, you just be cold until you get inside.
But in the UK the weather issue is mostly rain, in which case decent coats, umbrella perhaps, appropriate footwear. You don't need somewhere to get warm and dry inside apart from the normal warmth of inside so long as they have somewhere to hang up coats. If they don't then that is an issue

Our school run was 20-25 mins and we walked from age 4 onwards - if it was wet I’d drive and usually picked up in the car as well, but occasionally walked if a lovely day. (Snacks non negotiable!). Kids were knackered at the end of the day and it was a tad hilly.

We do that for school and I actually really enjoy it as it gives me a chance to chat to DS in the morning about all sorts. We really enjoy that 1-1 time

I lost weight when I did this in the past. I used to walk my child to school, then either carry on with the dog for his walk, or had to walk very briskly back home to pick up the car to drive to work.

My kid walks 45 min to school. Anything under an hour, I tend to walk unless I have little time to get somewhere and back (I.e. doing a shop run during lunch break). Definitely not a UK thing as I grew up in continental Europe and everyone walks/cycles everywhere. 1h 20m a day is not enough walking for an adult, in my opinion.